"I will have a defensive back on my side, and Peyton will place it in the perfect spot," Demaryius Thomas said Tuesday. "It's something I had never seen before. Never. They say I have good corners covering me. But it's hard for them with Peyton. You hear the DBs out there saying: 'Ah, you're lucky. With any other quarterback but Peyton, that would have been a pick.' They get really frustrated."

Manning authored the greatest single season in NFL history last year. Everyone witnessed the genius, because Manning appears on prime time more than the cast of "CSI."

What makes Manning's run with the Broncos remarkable is the method. He is not a physical marvel like Brett Favre, who continued to break receivers' fingers until his final, final, this-time-he-means-it retirement.

Manning is more van Gogh than Oh, My! He paints with a small brush, strokes that can go unnoticed because of his mind-numbing consistency. Despite his advancing age, 38, and return from a serious neck injury that required several surgeries, he played his best football last season and will enter this season among the favorites to win a sixth MVP award.